American journalist Lauren Wolfe was dismissed from her position at The New York Times, causing significant controversy and debate. She was fired due to a tweet regarding the new American president, Joe Biden, and stated that she faced a barrage of harassment following the tweet.
This harassment included being followed by a photographer while walking her dog, and she shared one of the abusive messages she received, which included a wish for her to contract cancer. In response to the criticism, The New York Times defended Wolfe after many journalists rallied to support her.
The newspaper’s spokesperson, Daniella Rhodes Ha, told The Washington Post, "There is a lot of inaccurate information circulating on Twitter." She added that for privacy reasons, they would not go into the details regarding staff matters, but they could clarify that they did not terminate someone's employment because of a single tweet. Out of respect for the individuals involved, they do not plan to make further comments.
The newspaper also noted that Wolfe was not a full-time employee but was instead working under a contract. The Times workers' union reported that they are investigating the situation.
On another note, several defenders of Wolfe pointed out that The New York Times did not terminate journalist Glenn Thrash after several women accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017. The newspaper suspended Thrash for two months, during which executive editor Dean Baquet clarified that the journalist had responded to these allegations appropriately and that no one was being overlooked, while Thrash retained his job.
It is worth mentioning that Lauren Wolfe, who was an editor at The New York Times, published her tweet on January 19, the day before President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Wolfe then left the newspaper two days after the tweet was shared by right-wing social media users and news outlets, who used her tweet to claim media bias.
